6.xxx (AKA 6.803 and 6.833)

The Human Intelligence Enterprise: 2019

2019 Edition Updated 20 May 2019

We regret that the 2019 edition of 6.803/6.833, The Human Intelligence Enterprise,
was heavily oversubscribed with four times as many students registered as we had hoped.
Because of the discussion-oriented nature of the subject, we had to limit enrollment via
a lottery following the first day of class.

Classics for every aspiring leader's bookshelf

This is the promised list of great works. Send me a note when you think of something that belongs on the list.

Communication

You cannot lead if you cannot communicate. A corollary is that you should hone your
communication skills for the rest of your life.

Communication, Patrick Henry Winston

Available fall, 2019, probably. See
my home page for updates.
Communication is to be 6.xxx on paper, both more and less. More on communication,
less on leadership.

The Elements of Style, William Strunk and E. B. White

Just after I distributed a draft of my first textbook, a student lobbed the dreaded
question at me. “Have you read Strunk and White?” she said. I was betrayed because I
had not deployed active verbs.

BUGS in Writing: A Guide to Debugging Your Prose, Lyn Dupre

Once Strunk and White is in your blood, read Dupre. She is a developmental editor; that
is, she not only performs the lessor, comma-correcting function of a copy editor, she
also comments on clarity and structure. After I wrote a few books, I thought I had
learned what ordinary copy editors have to teach, so I asked my publisher to find an
editor who could make me cry. They found Dupre. She did.

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Edward R. Tufte

Because we think with our eyes as well as our mouth, illustrations
should properly stimulate your reader's visual problem solving apparatus. In this
domain, Tufte's book reigns supreme. Look at the illustrations and discover what he has to
say about them. Note, however, that you are likely to be disappointed by the writing
style at the sentence and paragraph level.

Writing models

We mimic what we read, so before you write, read something you admire.

Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, James M. McPherson

If I don't feel
like Shakespeare, I read McPherson, who does Strunk and White great honor in the way he
uses verbs. The Battle Cry of Freedom is the best one-volume treatment of the
American Civil War and takes you beyond high-school simplifications toward an
understanding of the complex economic and political roots of a horrible war.

Molecular Biology of the Gene, James D. Watson

Before you write a textbook or documentation, study Watson's
first edition if you can find it (the Seventh is now available, but multiply authored, so
I expect it is less well done). Do not study the biology, study the way Watson explains
the biology.

How science works

The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and
What Comes Next, Lee Smolin

In the final chapters of The Trouble with Physics, Smolin explains that tenure
decisions focus on maximizing short term reputation of the tenuring university.
Accordingly, paradigm shifting geniuses often end up as false negatives because they do
not necessarily develop the expected portfolio of papers in refereed journals while they
are thinking their deep thoughts. My experiences in Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science run amazingly parallel.

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of
DNA, James D. Watson

If Watson were to tire of molecular biology, he could become a great mystery writer, on
the level of Arthur Conan Doyle. His account of the discovery of the structure of DNA
exposes a level of competition, politics, deception, and sexism, and mystery that you
would expect to find in a board room, not in a scientific community.

Management and leadership

Out of the Crisis, W. Edwards Deming

McArthur brought Deming to Japan after World War Two. He transformed Japan from a maker
a junk into the industrial envy of the world. The Japanese Union of Scientists and
Engineers have awarded The Deming prize annually for the past 60 years or so in his
honor. In his book, he emphasizes that a good leader makes it clear to each person in
his/her organization that that person is valued, that his/her work is valued, and his/her work
makes a difference. Annual reviews are not for grading, they are for identifying what
is done well and where improvement would have the most impact.

Superminds, Thomas M. Malone

How to put minds together, both those that are dry
inside and those that are wet.

Finance and how markets work

Deportment

A Message to Garcia, Elbert Hubbard

Lieutenant Rowan got the message to Garcia. You should too.

Lord Chesterfield's Letters, Lord Chesterfield

Chesterfield wrote his letters in the first half of the eighteenth century, but much of
his advice remains valuable. My grandfather gave me a copy in 1963, with particular parts
underlined for my benefit.

Where we come from

Maters of the Planet, Ian Tattersall

We didn't amount to much before 70,000 years
ago. Tattersall explains that we became symbolic.

Why only us, Robert Berwick and Noam Chomsky

Berwick and Chomsky refine Tattersall
by explaining that we got an operation, merge, evidently missing in other species.
Merge matters, in my view, because it enables story composition.

Speaking

You cannot actually put these on a bookshelf, but they are useful nevertheless.

How to Speak, Patrick Henry Winston

Go to my How to Speak talk in IAP.
Some attend multiple times. The record so far is said to be
greater than 10.

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death, Patrick Henry

If you are thinking of starting a revolution, read
Henry's speech and adapt it to your
purpose.